communication error

Sic transit gloria. Glory fades. I'm Max Fischer.
-Max Fischer, Rushmore

It's getting a late and probably I should get to bed, but I had a great day and I think you should know about it.

Firstly, I slept in to about 9:00am. If you happen to be in your teens or early 20's, you may not think this is that impressive, but I'm 27 now, and believe me, that is pretty sweet. (Conversely, some of you have children, and probably hold some degree of resentment for someone who gets to sleep past 6:00am).

Secondly, summer has arrived in Vancouver and it has been actually sunny this weekend and quite lovely.

Thirdly, we went to the beach with friends, played frisbee and went slacklining before Courtney had to go to her ER shift.

This was quite a contrast to my Saturday, the duration of which I spent in VGH ER PAU doing a Psychiatry emergency shift. While today could be described as "Beautiful Day at the Beach", yesterday could be described as "Cinder Blocks, One Way Mirrors and Crazy People".

Anyhow, this is slacklining.

And I can't resist posting this one...Courtney after a particularly spectacular bounce off the line.

duncan hines

woman driving, man sleeping
passing all the other cars
searching in the black, but never turning to look back
a little metal box under the stars
-Eels, Woman Driving Man Sleeping

Courtney and I decided last week to head to Christina Lake for May long weekend. I hadn't really realized, but I guess she hadn't been out of the city since we went to the Joffre Lakes on labour day and was starting to get a little bit of the old City Fever. We had to overcome a few obstacles to make it happen, but it was well worth it. We ended up renting a car and driving overnight on friday night and came back monday afternoon. I had rented a car once before to drive to Sudbury for a medical school interview, but I didn't really have any idea of the way car rental companies do business. We got screwed over in multiple ways both on pick up and delivery, but we made it there and back safe and sound, so all's well I guess.

My mom and dad and Tory were there as well, so we had a nice family time relaxing (which, for my dad, includes tearing out and building a new set of stairs). We went swimming, chopped wood, had fires, read books. I slept like the dead. It was awesome.

The transportation issues have pushed me more towards buying a car though. I've resisted buying a car for some time now. My problems with car ownership are multiple (environmental, financial, hassleness) and generally, even in a rainy city, we get by very well with a combo of bicycles, transit, car co-op and mooching rides. The real problem arises when you want to do anything outside of the city, and renting just doesn't seem to work that well. Also next year we will be doing electives all over the shop and may need wheels in some of the locations we would like to go. vSociety at large is pretty understanding of you not having a car while you are a student. I think people start getting a little less likely to offer you rides when you are a working person. We could probably hang on for one more year, but I'm starting to think maybe it's time. What do you think- a black Escalade? Suburban? Hummer? You've got to think about towing capacity.

forgetting vs remembering

One might even argue that if an animal could choose with intelligence, it would opt for living in a zoo.....think about it yourself. Would you rather be put up at the Ritz with free room service and unlimited access to a doctor or be homeless without a soul to care for you?

-Piscine Molitor Patel, Life of Pi

My birthday weekend was awesome. Thanks everyone for the wishes and the gummi bears.

Tory was here for some conference so we got to hang out. She gets to travel a fair bit with the company she works for now and also they made this sweet bio for her (see end of post). Pretty snazzy eh? Anyhow, we went out to Cardero's with Meghan McDougall and some of her friends on Friday night and went to the Aquarium on Saturday. I've never been to The Aquarium ever, so it was cool to see all the fish (and mammals). Also it was cool because it was the site of Courtney's best (and only) known tv appearance- Sesame Street's Creature Feature, where she looked cute and got excited about Sloths. Her mom actually still has the clip on VHS.....I should digitize it and put it on YouTube. Saturday night we had a real party at the VINE. We even got a little keg from Granville Island Brewery which worked perfectly. Pretty much the opposite from how kegs normally work.

Also of note, Courtney got me a Slacklining rig for my birthday. I've already used it a number of times and have improved my skillz a little. I'll put up some pictures next time so all of you who don't know what it is can see it in action.